Themes of power and manipulation are evident in George Orwell's allegory Animal Farm, based on the Russian revolution with animals representing the major players in the debacle, as well as Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, where young children are stranded on a tropical island without any adults or authority figure. Both show how individuals are trapped by their leaders, namely Napoleon and Jack Merridew and their respective followers, who abuse their power and manipulate others for personal gain. They demonstrate how this is an integral part of the foundations of society and are essential for them to flourish, but inevitably bring their downfall.Animal Farm illustrates the use of po ...view middle of the document...
The meeting becomes chaotic as the antagonist, Jack, like Napoleon, rebels against his adversary's rules and leaves with the group. As in Animal Farm, the original ideals of the group are distorted and this leads to an inevitable conclusion. He recognises his primary fear of being a cowardly leader and uses this against him. While Ralph detests the idea of the beast, he uses this against him, and because the group believes there is a beast, he incorporates the idea so, like Napoleon against Snowball, the group sees him to be substandard. This is also shown when Jack is able to admit his wrongs: "'I'm sorry. About the fire, I mean. There... I apologize.' The buzz from the hunters was one of admiration at this handsome behaviour... Jack had done the decent thing, and put himself in the right by his generous apology and Ralph, obscurely in the wrong."Napoleon exercises his power by intimidating the other animals with his nine fierce dogs he raised. "They were huge dogs as fierce looking as wolves... uttering growls that sent shivers down the animals' spines." He also threatens them with the threat of the abusive farmer Mr. Jones, who once owned the farm: "Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back!"Like Napoleon and his intimidation tactics with the animals, Jack's desire for power is evident from the start and he uses the fear amongst his tribe to gain this, and he ridicules the youn...
